Lyrria, sitting across from me, clenched her hands on her thighs, her fingers tight, but her gaze never left me. Her eyes reflected a mixture of fear, defiance, and a strange interest, as if she were trying to decipher the invisible thread.
Oranna, behind her, jaw clenched, chest rising quickly with each breath, seemed to struggle to keep her composure.
Zae, slightly in the background, furrowed her brow, watching my every move with the caution of someone calculating the exact moment to strike… or to yield.
I raised my hand slightly, a slow, almost imperceptible gesture.
Immediately, the silence grew even heavier. The crack of a torch flickering in the wind echoed in the room, but no movement broke the chiefs' attention.
They were there, exposed, physically and mentally, and they knew it.
— So… he murmured in a low, tension-free voice, almost a whisper, — here we are. The Gorge, your clans, your lives… everything is here, before your eyes.
